11.30.2012

DONE! i scream from the mountaintop. i am Captain of Mount Accomplishment! never has ruggy been so inundated with my trumpeting!

on occasion, i know if i begin a hairbrained project, it will turn out the way i expect it to. in this case, i had a completely botched muslin of a wiggle dress, made from a stashed medium weight satin, i believe. this thing was overworked to death. for weeks, i thought i could wrangle it into a skirt and get something out of all that work, but the idea of measuring and slicing was leaving me cold. then, the ever inventive adri suggested that I make the feathered bombshell dress as a skirt instead, to get more mileage out of the whole shebang. eureka. last weekend, i woke up and decided to marry the botched wiggle dress and feathers in a frankenstein bill. i would do it. hack across the waist, and see what happened. cut into five yards of mood feathers. i'd had them for over three months. JUST DO IT ALREADY.

after slicing the dress in half, i removed the center back zipper, and laid it out flat on my table. marking a line all the way across at natural waist, i then measured down four inches from that line. and again, to get four loooong horizontal lines in all. working from the bottom up, i folded the skirt fabric around the feather trim edge, enclosing it. as i finished each line, and it began to take shape, i started to get excited.

and then there comes that point when you get a little too excited. things are working out, and you keep going even though you've been crazyface tunnel vision on a saturday for eight hours straight and you know you shouldn't attach a pleather waist band over sazeracs. but you do anyway. y'all, i ripped this waistband out countless times. i knew the self-made bias tape was not wide enough, but icouldn't be bothered to cut more. no, no, fifteen minutes of cutting more bias tape is MUCH more irritating than sixty minutes of seam ripping and reattaching. and once i caved in and cut more tape, did i decide to fix all of my errors in judgement and figure out a lining first? nope. i decided the guts were pretty enough and i would leave them as is.

guess who has a seam ripper and some lace lining in her future.

although it was meant to be paired with a bustier top, upon accessorizing, i found ruggy's dress shirt to be the best match. i love that it dresses down the absolute audacity of the thing. it is a delicate flower, this birdy skirt, made for standing-only events. you know the kind: where your hand is never without a glass of champagne. the kind of event i always seem to be beleaguered by, the life of a kalkatroonaan: it is fabulous.

this standing-room-only skirt was made using my monthly fabric "allowance" as part of the Mood Sewing Network.

I was about to say "I cannot believe you made a feather skirt" but that's ridiculous. OF COURSE YOU MADE A FEATHER SKIRT YOU MAD BIRD YOU! It's so over the top awesome... and totally spot on with the white shirt. Perfect high low mix. Oh Oona, you never cease to astound us.

I have to use Donna's word to describe this - epic. Your finest work to date. Yes, I wish my suggestions could have helped with the wiggle dress but I'm so glad it didn't!

Also, you touched upon something that ALWAYS happens to me. I always have in mind what I will wear with a project before I take the photos but once I start styling, I usually end up wearing something completely different!

usually i end up in the very first thing i wanted to style with (after many changes) but this one took awhile. i thought i wasn't going to be able to photograph it. but you, my friend, are a styling goddess.

it is fabulous! and ruggy’s dress shirt is the perfect dress-down accessory. but still…i want to see it with the bustier top. and maybe a boa. surely the fabulous life of a fabulous kalkatroonan can use a boa accessory, n’est-ce pas?

Did you ever read the YA novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins"by Scott O'Dell? There is a scene where the young woman fashions a skirt out of feathers (I belive it was cormorant feathers). My pre-teen self lusted over the idea of a shimmery blue/black/green feathered skirt. Hell, my 42-year old self still lusts after that idea. And now I know it's possible.

That was exactly my thought when I saw this skirt!!! That book, that feathered skirt, totally grabbed my imagination when I was little. And now, Oona, you've made my dreams come true with this make, except that this skirt lives in your closet, not mine. But that's just a minor detail, right?

Dude I hated that book so much. It was sad. (Probably very well written, though ;) )

The skirt. She is FAB. You are Fab. Feathers are one of those things I don't allow myself to consider, because I can't imagine a scenario in my life where they wouldn't be destroyed in fifteen minutes. So nice. :)

I love all your makes but this is not one I can root for. The fact that it doesn't say cruelty-free anywhere on that listing amplified by the number of comments from readers that now want feathered stuff is disturbing. I'm not going to list the reasons why here because I'm not trying to rain on your parade but no. Just no. Sorry.

they are wonderful things, usually occurring at office parties and wedding receptions with open bars. just be sure to make friends with the staff and let them know champagne is your choice for the evening. one day i'm going to throw a champagne only event ...

this takes "put a bird on it" to a whole new level. seriously though, i hope you have lots of standing drinking champagne parties to show off that lovely. it does look delicate but you'll know when it starts molting it's time to hang it up (and unless there's a flock nearby you will know when it starts haha)

Ahhh!!! You DID it!! Congratulations! Only you could make a feather skirt work like a dream come true. Also, I totally feel your pain about all those standing-only-champagne-in-hand events to attend... I mean... come on, can't a girl get a Saturday night to just turn into a lump on the couch??!! ;)

Fabulous. Obviously. Along with the champagne and bustier, I think a foot long cigarette holder would be just the thing as well. If one doesn't smoke, it would still make a fabulous prop. You could so pull it off.

I would have never made a feather skirt, because *I'd* look ridiculous in it. But you, my dear, look chic. And your explanation about why this white shirt works ("i love that it dresses down the absolute audacity of the thing.") was awesome because it put into words EXACTLY why I think it works.